We have seen players in tears on Senior Night. We have many break down after being eliminated in a conference tournament game that meant there would be no trip to the NCAAs. We have even seen Adam Morrison cry on the court with time left in the game when his Gonzaga Bulldogs blew a large lead in the Sweet 16 and saw their Final Four dreams evaporate.

What we saw from Illinois center Meyers Leonard on Saturday night, we’ve not seen in nearly three decades of covering college basketball. Removed from the game late in a stunningly one-sided loss at Nebraska, Leonard covered his head in his warm-up jacket and wept.

"Wept" is absolutely the appropriate verb.

It was odd to see him so emotional as the Illini lost, 80-57, their second loss in a week and a result that surely shredded their NCAA Tournament candidacy. It was odd because the Illinois players had demonstrated so little passion as they dropped from a nine-point first-half lead to a deficit that grew as large as 31 points.

That’s a 40-point swing, people.

The season has gone like that, as well, from a 15-3 start that included wins over Gonzaga and Ohio State to eight losses in the past nine games and a five-game losing streak.

"I told the kids after that I’m still very proud of them," Illinois coach Bruce Weber told reporters Saturday. "They didn’t quit. They really, really care. There are lots of tears in our locker room. The weight of the world — once they made the run, I think the weight of the world kind of caved in on our guys and there was no stopping. Our kids kept fighting and battling and didn’t quit.

"It’s just one of those days. Now we have five games left, and I’m going to come back and have some spirit like they have all year. If you were at practice yesterday, they practiced like it was the first day of the year. I promise you no one has quit in that locker room."

Weber’s words, though, did not describe the picture we saw unfold. The playing-for-pride Huskers beat the playing-for-a-bid Illini to most all loose balls and available rebounds.

The risk Weber took following Wednesday’s Purdue loss was that his players would not respond well to the public challenge he issued — because they’ve not, as a team, demonstrated an overwhelming competitive spirit. He talked about his failure to build a culture of toughness after that game. It showed during this one.

Murray State is 'in'

Through the course of the college basketball season, four teams that currently own top-100 RPI rankings have stepped in front of Murray State.

Each fell, by an average margin of 11 points.

So all you bracket people suggesting Murray State, which has won 26-of-27 games this season, might need the Ohio Valley Conference’s automatic bid to reach the NCAA Tournament -- how about you give it up, OK?

If Murray were to close the season on a three-game losing streak, we’ll revisit the issue. But what the Racers are doing would be impressive if they were competing in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.

“Watch out,” star point guard Isaiah Canaan told The Courier-Journal. “Regardless of who we’re playing, we’re going to give them our best shot. If it’s Duke or North Carolina, we’re going to compete.”

It hasn’t been Duke or Carolina to this point. It has been Memphis, Dayton, Southern Miss and Saint Mary’s. The Racers have won 12 games away from home, second-most of any team in the RPI top 50. They’ve earned their place in the show.

“If we can finish the season strong, it gives us a chance to get a good seed,” Racers coach Steve Prohm told USA Today. “But, regardless of where you're seeded — five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 — you're going to play somebody good.”

Look at the coach, talking seeding. He knows. The season isn’t over, but the debate should be.

Gordon leads UNM to Mountain top

For a lot of the season, it seemed as though there was only room enough for two at the peak of the Mountain West. That might be true, but the New Mexico Lobos had long since grown tired of looking up at the show.

“We have been overlooked this whole year,” forward Drew Gordon said following UNM’s 65-45 destruction of No. 11 UNLV. “The hype has been about UNLV and SDSU being the big teams, and now we should be ranked this Monday.

“It won’t change our attitude, and we know how we are going to act. Our team is hungry, and we want a ring.”

The Lobos’ victory Saturday — combined with San Diego State’s surprising loss at Air Force — gives New Mexico a two-game lead at the top of the Mountain West standings, a stunning development given how the Rebels and Aztecs dominated the MWC conversation for the season’s first three months.

Gordon is the primary reason for New Mexico’s ascendancy. He delivered a career-defining effort against the Rebels: 27 points on 13-of-20 shooting and 20 rebounds.

It was only the fifth 20-20 effort by a Division I player against a top-25 opponent in the past decade, and the first since Pitt’s DeJuan Blair pulled it off against Connecticut in 2009.

“What he did this week — 17-17 at San Diego State — and then he comes back and puts on a performance that hasn’t been seen in this place in a long time, if ever,” New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. “He was 27-20 against not just a team but a top-15 team in the country. That’s pretty special. Our guys saw that and they kept going to him, and I thought that was a big positive.”

Gordon had been coming off a rough stretch — three single-figure scoring games in his previous four — but the Lobos were winning regardless because of their crushing defense.

As he finds his game and the defense continues to excel — opponents in UNM’s seven-game winning streak have averaged 49.6 points — the Lobos might grow accustomed to the view from the top.

“That was probably my best game, and things were just falling for me,” Gordon said. “The basketball gods were good to me today.”

Bids boosted

Kansas State (18-8). Winning at Baylor gave the Wildcats a fifth top-50 victory and evened their road record at 4-4. After they’d fumbled an earlier home opportunity against Big 12 co-leader (and longstanding rival) Kansas, K-State salvaged its week nicely.

Cincinnati (19-8). If the Bearcats do what is necessary to put themselves in position for an NCAA bid, they probably won’t be marooned near the bottom of the RPI top 100 as they are now (93rd before Saturday’s win over Seton Hall). But they’re only going to climb so far. RPI rank isn’t supposed to dictate selections, but there never has been even an at-large entrant ranked in the 80s. They could be a fascinating test case for the selection committee.

Creighton (23-5). It took a recent three-game losing streak even to scuff up the Bluejays’ record this much. They’re now 4-2 against the top 50, 6-4 against the top 100. They have two regular-season games left. If they refrain from doing something foolish, the Jays should be safe.

FROM SI

Bids busted

Connecticut (16-10). The Huskies don’t appear to be all that interested in defending their NCAA title. Certainly there’s no defense for their dismal effort against Marquette or for the second-half technical foul against freshman guard Ryan Boatright -- for trash-talking? Really? -- that essentially ceded permanent control of the game to the Golden Eagles.

Mississippi State (19-8). A third consecutive loss has dropped the Bulldogs into the bubble picture -- especially given that none of those defeats was against an opponent with a winning conference record. Next up: Kentucky, which is doing pretty much OK in SEC play.

N.C. State (18-9). After blowing a 20-point second-half lead Thursday at Duke, the Pack saved themselves the agony this time and simply got pasted by Florida State. State now is 2-7 against the RPI top 50 -- on the way to 2-8? This team does not appear to be in any condition to challenge North Carolina on Tuesday.

Say hello to ...

Jae Crowder, a wide-bodied 6-6 forward for Marquette who might be the guy who gets the Golden Eagles back to the Final Four, a place they last visited in 2003 behind a fellow named Dwyane Wade. Crowder is like no one else, capable of using his strength to devastate opponents along the baseline and turning them inside-out with 3-pointers, as he did in hitting 4-of-7 to crush UConn.

Say goodnight to ...

The Arkansas Razorbacks, now 17-10 after Florida swamp-stomped them Saturday afternoon. Previously, the Razorbacks’ problem had been that they couldn’t win away from home -- 0-8 in games played outside Fayetteville. Now, they can’t get it done at home, either. It’s just not time yet for the young Hogs.

Say a prayer for ...

The Long Beach State 49ers, who traveled all the way to Omaha, Neb., for a BracketBusters game, played beautifully at times against Creighton and then blew a six-point lead in the final four minutes and lost on a buzzer shot. Perhaps they’ll win the Big West’s automatic bid and get the NCAA bid they so richly deserve. If not, there should be a place for a team that played competitively in five road games against top-30 opponents. But would there be?